NATION TRAPPED BY CHEATING IN EXAMS

Papua New Guinea has been trapped for several years by cheating in the exams for grades 8,10 and 12. Only today we read in the PNG Post Courier of a boy caught with a cheat sheet in the grade 8 exam. 

The examination stopped while the boy was dragged outside and bashed by students. He admitted buying the cheat sheet. The boy died of his injuries.

It must not get to the point that all students and parents see that they must cheat to gain the next place on the educational ladder. We read that 40% of grade 12 students in PNG will be given a place at university.

Cheating in exams occurs across the world. We read of the massive cheating in Bangladesh supported by parents and teachers.

There is now a call to abolish these exams. That will make the situation worse particularly on entrance to university. 

The corruption will fall to teachers who may be paid by parents to ensure their child succeeds in the internal exams. There may be threats and intimidation. Children of teachers' families will surely find a place.

The problem in PNG is that exams are largely by objective questions. Many such questions can be too complex, half right or completely wrong. An intelligent student may give the wrong response, the result of realizing the question is only half right.

No more is the student required to give short answers to show understanding. The questions asked may be too difficult and designed by half skilled teachers.

It may come down to the need for universities to set their own entrance exams. This brings problems as half-smart university lecturers may make the standard of questions too high. This is partly to exclude 60% of students from a university place.

We read of parents complaining that their children did well in the internal exams but failed the external exams for entrance to university. Students may be prepared in schools to master all skills but the external exam is on another planet. 

It is meant to show what the students do not know rather than what they do know. In some schools, all students may fail. The student who goes to university may be the top among the failures. This person will fail at university.

With exams based largely on objective questions, the cheat sheet may take the form as follows:

1.a  2.c 3.d 4. a 5.b 6.c. 7.a. 8.a. 9.c. 10. d

It has been prepared by a corrupt teacher with a friend in the Department of Education. The cheat sheet is prepared on school computer, printed out in multiple copies and sold to selected students.

Focus on objective questions makes another problem. Students can not write answers. A weak student looks clever in going through objective questions with a tick and flick. The student has no idea of the question or answer. But 9.a looks good.

Objective questions may be set because of the low standard of students who can not write short answers and teachers who cannot mark to a uniform standard. Tick and flick questions ensure uniform marking by teachers.

Perhaps the Department of Education can set out 200 short answer questions on a sheet distributed to schools. These will test knowledge and problem solving ability. 

Students are advised that 20 questions will be on the end of year exam. This will cover 50% of the marks. There will be 10 more questions that test analytical skills and be taken from the curriculum at large.

But then these questions will fall into the hands of the cheats.